Sir Alexander Malcolm MacEwen (10 January 1875 – 29 June 1941) was a Scottish politician and

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

who served as the

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leader of the Scottish National Party ( SNP) from 1934 to 1936.

Early life

Alexander Malcolm MacEwen was born on 10 January 1875 in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

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, the son of Robert Sutherland Taylor MacEwen (1839–1900), a

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from

Dornoch Dornoch (; ; ) is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east. ...

who served in India as the Recorder of

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. MacEwen was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1901, he began his legal career in

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

, before joining the

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

legal firm of Stewart Rule & Co., where he later became senior partner.

Political career

A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, MacEwen was elected to Inverness Town Council in 1908, and served as Provost of Inverness 1925–1931. During his period in office, Provost MacEwen promoted schemes for the improvement of public health and housing in Inverness, and served as a member of the Inverness-shire Education Committee, and as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Northern Infirmary. He also served as a councillor on Inverness County Council, representing

Benbecula Benbecula ( ; or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a zone administered by ...

. He was Chief of the Gaelic Society in 1930. In 1932 MacEwen was one of the founders of the Scottish Party, and in the 1933 Kilmarnock by-election he stood as the joint candidate of the Scottish Party and the National Party of Scotland, coming fourth with 6,098 votes.

Leadership of the Scottish National Party (1934–1936)

With the merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party on 7 April 1934 to form the Scottish National Party, MacEwen became the new party's first leader. The party's performance in the 1935 general election was disappointing with only

and MacEwan in the

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...

achieving respectable results. MacEwen stood down as leader of the SNP in 1936, when he was succeeded by Andrew Dewar Gibb. He died at his home on the Black Isle in 1941, aged 66. MacEwen had three sons and two daughters. His son Malcolm joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

and became a prominent conservationist.

Honours

He was

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in the 1932 Birthday Honours for services to local government and public health in Scotland. MacEwen Drive in

is named after him.

Publications

*''The Thistle and the Rose - Scotlands Problem To-Day'', 1932 *''Scotland at School - Education for Citizenship'', 1938 *''Towards Freedom'', 1938

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macewan, Alexander 1875 births 1941 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Leaders of the Scottish National Party People educated at Clifton College Politicians from Kolkata Provosts in Scotland Scottish Liberal Party councillors Members of Inverness County Council